Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 9 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
The Austin City Council work session of May 19, 2026 covered Austin Energy's proposed acquisition of 400 megawatts of gas peaker plants, procurement contracts for AV/broadcast equipment (item A-23), council priorities for the FY 2027 budget, the 2026 bond program and election, and the proposed development agreement and annexation of the 2,614-acre 'Dog's Head' site. Council members questioned Austin Energy staff on reliability risk hours, long-duration battery technology, siting, transparency, and the process for approving the peaker contract in executive session, with the Mayor explaining the legal basis for closing competitive matters. On the bond, staff recommended a 2028 election with interim financing, while several council members urged a 2026 parks and active transportation bond. On Dog's Head, staff framed annexation as a rare economic development and tax base opportunity, and council discussed open space, affordable housing, the TIRZ, and road alignments. No votes were taken at the work session.
0:07 You are watching a meeting of the Austin City Council with Mayor Kirk Watson, Mayor pro timm cheadle,
0:16 Vela. Council members Natasha Harper Madison, Vanessa Fuentes, José velazquez, Ryan Alter, crystal lane, Mike Siegel, Paige Ellis, zoe
0:39 cadre, mark uchin, city attorney deborah thomas, city clerk erica brady, and city manager tc broad,
0:59 everybody. It's nine o'clock in the morning.
1:01 I will call to order the city of Austin work session count City Council work session.
1:06 Uh, it is May 19th, 2026.
1:08 We are meeting in the City Council chambers in, uh, City Hall at 3 0 1 west second street in
1:13 Austin, texas, and we have a quorum of the City Council present.
1:17 Uh, the way we will proceed today is I have just now, as you heard me, called to
1:22 order the City Council work session, uh, momentarily.
1:26 I'm going to recess that work session and turn it over to the Mayor pro tim as the
1:31 chair of the Austin energy utility oversight committee.
1:35 And, uh, he will call to order the, uh, committee meeting, and we will conduct the committee meeting
1:42 for those that are here to speak on items.
1:45 The way this will work is, uh, committees.
1:49 We have five speakers at committee meetings.
1:51 And, and what we will do, and I don't know if anybody has signed up on, on the,
1:55 for the committee, they'll we'll hear from those five speakers.
1:59 He will then conduct the entire Austin energy utility oversight committee meeting.
2:04 We will have that meeting.
2:05 We will, uh, have the briefings, we will have the discussion.
2:08 Um, and then when that's over, he, that will be adjourned.
2:13 And I will call back to order the work session of the Austin City Council.
2:18 People have signed up to speak at the work session, and that is when we will hear the
2:23 speakers on those agenda items.
2:26 Um, so now when we get to that, I also wanna let people know that we will go
2:32 in the order of the agenda.
2:34 So, uh, a seven a 23rd, then we will go to the briefings, uh, b one, b two,
2:40 and b three. I will also let everybody know, including members of the council, that there will not
2:46 be, although it's posted, there will not be the executive session, uh, that is posted on the agenda.
2:52 So unless there are questions or comments from counsel, I don't see any.
2:57 So without objection, uh, this Austin City Council work session is recessed at 9:02 am and I'll turn it
3:05 over, turn it back over to the Mayor.
3:06 Thank you very much, mr.
3:07 Chairman and Mayor Pro Tem.
3:09 Uh, it is 1114 and I will call back to order the work session of the Austin city
3:14 council. And as I indicated, what we would do, and for people that are paying attention to this,
3:19 we will just go straight through the agenda, which, uh, will take us immediately into what is li
3:26 listed as item a seven, which is related to this.
3:30 Um, and again, I want to note that we will not be having the executive session.
3:35 So, uh, what I, what I will do is, before we go into item e seven, is I
3:40 will turn to the city clerk's office and ask them to begin the process of calling on the
3:46 speakers that have signed up.
3:47 Uh, for those that have signed up to speak and that are here, what we're gonna do is
3:51 we're gonna hear from all of the speakers, unless there's some objection or comment from counsel, we'll hear
3:56 from all the speakers on, on more than just item a seven.
4:00 We have speakers that have also signed up for one of the briefings, which is, uh, item b
4:05 two, um, and, and hear from everybody.
4:09 And then we will come back to a seven unless there's some concern about that.
4:13 All right. With that, I'll turn to the city clerk.
4:17 Okay. We're gonna start with remote speakers for a seven, we have one.
4:22 Tommy, joaquin, hancock.
4:31 Tommy. Yes, I'm here.
4:37 Please begin. Thank you, counsel.
4:43 I'd just like to, uh, send my appreciation to speakers and, uh, considering all sides of the, uh,
4:50 topic discussed, transparency is essential to building trust with voters and purchasing and installing 400 megawatts of gas
4:58 peakers could cost up to $1 billion, and just the equipment will be several hundred million dollars.
5:03 And investment of that magnitude demands full, transparent vetting and the cost of contracts from, for everything from
5:09 wind to bigger part.
5:23 Okay. In person speakers for a seven, we have al braden, mary and sanchez.
5:30 If I've called your name, go ahead and come forward.
5:33 Take a seat. State your name for the record.
5:37 Bobby lavinsky, larry gil, david lavesque.
5:44 Annie fiero.
5:50 If your name's being called, please come forward and grab a seat.
5:53 And mr. Braden, we'll start with you.
5:54 If you'll state your name for the record.
5:56 Uh, good morning, Mayor Watson and council.
5:58 I'm al braden, proudly from district seven and vice chair of the electric utility commission.
6:03 This morning, I'm speaking for myself as this is a work session.
6:06 It's time to ask questions about this most secret billion dollar project I've ever seen in Austin.
6:11 Don't let fomo, fear of missing out, rush you and buying a billion dollar white elephant.
6:17 Austin energy has carefully choreographed a public relations process that checks the box of public engagement without actually
6:24 producing public engagement. I intended two of the rapid response public meetings, and I doubt if there were
6:31 20 genuine community members at either meeting.
6:34 The results were tabulated, but not really heard.
6:37 I asked during those meetings what a's goals were.
6:40 What was the generation target?
6:41 What was the mix of batteries, solar, peakers, where would it go?
6:45 What would be the community impacts?
6:47 There were no answers to any of these questions.
6:50 The euc was likewise kept in the dark until our Monday meeting 400 megawatts was finally mentioned.
6:56 But what none of the details were disclosed?
6:59 Amount, cost, location, timeline, justification, analysis of alternatives.
7:05 Ae is hiding the ball.
7:07 If you as counsel or railroaded into executive session and sign a billion dollar blank check, you will
7:13 face the voters. You can count on that.
7:16 Since this is a work session, ask these questions of your colleagues and yourself.
7:21 Where is the analysis, show analysis showing there are not other effective ways to bring power into town
7:26 with transmission and batteries?
7:28 What is the size and cost and rate impact?
7:32 How does buying gas generator in 2030 square with our goals of eliminating carbon by 2035?
7:39 What are the guardrails?
7:40 Show the models. How is it possibly justified economically without running all the time, what will you tell
7:47 your voters about this back room deal?
7:50 How will you vote?
7:51 Thank you very much.
7:58 Please, any one of you just begin by stating your name for the record.
8:02 Yes, sir. Uh, my name's larry gid.
8:04 You might wanna pull that microphone a little closer to your mouth.
8:07 So you wanna be heard?
8:08 My name is larry gi.
8:09 I live at 39 0 8 avenue g in Austin, in hyde park.
8:12 I've been a recipient of several boons from the city of Austin, a no interest loan in 1982
8:18 to weatherize my home rebates for rooftop solar rebates for a heat pump value of solar payment on
8:23 my electrical bell. Every month, I have considered ae an asset to our community, finding innovation, innovative solutions
8:29 to technical issues, and responding to disparate points of view.
8:32 The ae generation and climate protection plan of 2030 address the problems of climate change with clear, unequivocal
8:39 message. No more fossil fuels for Austin.
8:43 So given the world we live in, I've been struggling to understand how we've gotten to the point
8:46 of even considering purchase of a gas powered electric generator.
8:50 The facts of our predicament are not in dispute.
8:52 Planet earth is heating up the fastest rate ever.
8:55 The cause of heating is burning fossil fuels.
8:58 Global emissions of greenhouse gases today are higher than when the paris agreement was signed 15 years ago,
9:03 10 years ago. Warming to date has already brought devastation to communities and ecosystems around the world.
9:10 Not one of the 45 indicators assessed in the paris agreement is on track today.
9:17 Global temperature, average temperature rise above, uh, 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
9:23 By the end, by the end of this decade, the latest ae generation and climate protection plan to
9:29 2035 uses the fact that climate change is causing more extreme weather.
9:33 To argue that we need more of the single-minded circular logic that got us here by another gas
9:40 power generator that will continue to exacerbate the warming.
9:44 Entrenched fossil fuel interests continue to exert powerful political influence, ty and climate action and, and ambition.
9:51 Many countries realize that ensuring climate progress will require transitioning entire economies around sustainable technologies.
9:59 The economic transition is underway.
10:02 It's interesting, I've heard more about load zone price separation in this meeting than atlantic marial.
10:09 No overturning circulation. Thank you, sir.
10:12 There is a conference.
10:14 Thank you, sir. Your time has expired.
10:15 Thank you. Yes, ma'am.
10:18 My name is danny firo, speaking against item a seven.
10:21 Uh, I'm a resident of d seven.
10:23 For the seven years I've been living in Austin, I've been organizing for adjust transition.
10:27 And if you don't know what that means, it's fully transitioning energy sources to renewables.
10:32 After hearing Austin energy this morning, I'm still not convinced there's enough data to support the peakers, aside
10:37 from the fact that I cannot in my right mind support adding pollution to address a power outage
10:42 caused by climate disasters.
10:44 When our energy resources have been the primary driver of the climate crisis, uri and 110 degree weather,
10:51 uh, summer days are both the result of climate change.
10:55 Adding to that, uh, adding to that, that they, um, Austin energy has refused transparency with both the
11:01 public and even elected officials.
11:04 Also, Austin energy during what they call their community input sessions, which I attended predominantly had a small
11:09 group of folks like myself who do this type of work and go out of the way to
11:13 catch this kind of thing happening.
11:15 Uh, as an organizer, let me tell you, that was not community input.
11:20 We also have no guarantee that this will indeed have the peakers running instead of already existing, let's
11:25 say coal generation and other energy resources also have impact on the air and the land, which some
11:32 of, like, some of the power generated by Austin energy winco, uh, fain have had bad results and
11:39 hugely burdened as financial burden.
11:41 On the cons on the people living surrounding these, uh, energy plans, um, the city, uh, has also
11:48 lost financial trust from their constituency.
11:50 And I'm also not convinced how renewables are an economic burden when just this month there was a
11:55 report from the international renewable energy agency that found the cost from firm around the cloud.
12:00 Renewable energy from solar, wind and pair with batteries fell from felt by 31% from 2020 to 2025.
12:07 It is also projected to fall another 32% by 2030.
12:12 The overall conclusion was that the firm renewables are competitive with fossil fuels.
12:17 I'm also worried. Okay, thank you, mr.
12:22 Levinsky. Why don't you begin next?
12:25 Well, okay, whoever, just somebody, begin.
12:28 Good morning, Mayor and City Council.
12:30 I'm david levek. We've seen City Council show strong leadership through the climate equity plan and the climate
12:34 revolving fund led by council members Alter and Ellis.
12:38 More gas plans would be a step back for human health and a big financial risk.
12:42 Gas prices are volatile while solar and battery prices are predictable and controllable.
12:46 Los angeles and london are proving that reliable grids don't have to lock in decades of fossil fuel
12:51 debt and stranded liabilities.
12:54 We have invested a hundred million dollars in 20 years of solar and battery incentives, which is amplified
13:00 by customer and federal investments.
13:02 What if we modeled a billion dollars to Austin residents creating more local power and local wealth compared
13:08 to a billion dollars over three years for gas that would only be paid for customers exporting our
13:13 money to big national corporations for dirty air for us to breathe?
13:18 It seems the requirements for bringing the gas plants to vote had not been met.
13:21 Have you seen a current economic health and environmental impact study?
13:25 Also, best practices regarding software for improving grid visualization and solar permitting seem to be missing from Austin
13:31 efforts. 100 Hour batteries are commercially available in the united states today.